Afandi Kitchen — Restaurant in Chesterfield

The Mala Sautéed Chicken is the best chicken dish I've had in 30 years in St. Louis, after moving here from LA (no, not Lower Arnold, the other LA.) Before that, I would have said the Kung Pao chicken at Chili Spot in U-City, or the jerk chicken from Mi Hungry BBQ in St. John. If you know and love the food at those places and those dishes, you can trust me about Afandi's Mala Sautéed Chicken.

Today was the second time I've ordered this chicken. The first time I got it, about 8 months ago, I thought the taste was incredible, but it was difficult to eat because the chicken was chopped up with a cleaver, and there were little bones and bone fragments everywhere. It was a labor of love to eat it. I love my food to be authentic, but the one thing I want as the ugly American is boneless chicken. Well, today I asked, and the server checked with the chef, and sure enough, I got it boneless!

This dish is spicy, reminiscent of kung pao chicken, but dryer and with a more aromatic flavor that makes it seem almost a hybrid of Szechuan and Indian. The server also asked if I wanted it spicy, to which I said "absolutely", but that indicates you can get it not so hot.

As far as the price, it is $25 for an order, which is more than the other dishes I've mentioned. However, there is clearly enough chicken and rice for two people, so $12.50 per person seems pretty reasonable (although I'll probably eat it myself in one sitting).

Last thing, if you're watching your carb intake, this is a dish you can eat without the rice. It is not very saucy, although the sauce, more like a spiced oil, that is there at the bottom of your dish is so amazing on rice, you'll probably...

Not gonna give them another try. Not recommend. Below is why. I usually don't write a review on the first visit, but this is my first and last.

Price: way overpriced for what you get and for what is presented. Being overpriced because of the high rent? Or the owners just wanna get rich fast? Really, I have spent more than $100 per person (see my previous reviews) at a restaurant for what was small in portions, but at least I received a good-looking product. This wasn't the case. Way overpriced for what it is.

Cleanliness & staff: Floor was not wiped. Server just sat there staring at me and was not doing anything productive. Need retraining. I still tipped her well, tho. Not really sure why some reviewers say the staff exceeded their expectations.

Food: not presentable. What I ordered didn't look like a $15 wrap or a $13 noodle. The only decently priced food is the $3.75 kebab. Please, if you wanna charge $20 for a rice plate with lamp or a bowl of noodle or a bowl of broth, at least make it look presentable and clean. I am so glad I dodged the bullet by not ordering a 4th entree and appetizer.

Not sure why some 5-star reviewers said the foods are good. But I understand if they just wanna help small businesses by posting good reviews about the food despite it being subpar.

The plates and eating utensils are just cheap plastic and unsuitable for the price of the food. At least, some good porcelain plates and bowls.

Maybe they just increased the price to make sure they make money after rent? Not sure. While I am all rooting for small businesses, I cannot support overpriced food. I wish...

STL has a Uyghur restaurant 😍 I don't normally write reviews, but this was too good not to share.

I got the Afandi special tea, Laghman with lamb and sticky rice with ice cream! Both caught me by surprise with the multi-layer flavoring they both had.

The Laghman was rich with flavor with a nice spicy kick towards the end of each bite! I could probably have gone a little spicier, but that's personal preference. The savory and spicy flavor was couples with sweetness from the bell peppers which was a nice balance. Surprisingly, the best part for me was actually the perfectly chewy noodles! I'm not usually crazy about noodles, but I was shocked by the texture of these noodles.

The sticky rice was similar experience! Of course you expect the sweetness from the ice cream and (strawberry?) jam, but are met with so much more. You quickly taste the sweetness from the ice cream and jam, but soon taste the slight sourness from, I believe, their homemade yogurt. It's not strong but enough to bring a nice contrast to the sweetness you tasted right before in the same bite. And I may be making things up, but I think the rice must have been seasoned and had a bit of saltiness to it. The whole dessert was an experience for the taste buds.

Already scheduled my next visit but bringing foods next time so we can try the other dishes...